


Glitter

by nerdqueenenterprise



Category: Star Trek: Discovery
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Kidfic, M/M, the kid isn't theirs but Paul is great with kids hence why
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-16
Updated: 2018-10-16
Packaged: 2019-08-03 04:03:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16318793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nerdqueenenterprise/pseuds/nerdqueenenterprise
Summary: Hugh's niece made some art for Paul. It's about 90% glitter and 10% canvas. Then they have a discussion about science, as you do with a five year old.Crossposted from Tumblr.





	Glitter

“It’s sticky,” Paul says. The little face in front of him falls immediately. “Thank you,” he adds in slight bewilderment, accepting the glittery piece of paper art. It  _is_  pretty, considering it was made by a five year old girl who’s fond of glue and glitter and glittery glue, and if Paul would tilt the glittery vortex she made, he would probably dump a lot of glitter on his feet (and worse, the carpet).

Leah beams and hops on the couch next to him, almost upsetting the delicate balance that keeps the glitter on the paper.

“It’s your mushroom engine!” she explains. “See, here’s a ‘shroom, this is the millis, here’s the space ship and this is you!” She points to various blobs on the “canvas”.

“I see.” Paul nods gravely. “What’s the millis?”

“The millis! It’s made from the ‘shrooms!”

“You mean the… mycelial network?”

“Yes! The millis! It’s what makes the ship flip! Like a pancake! Uncle Hugh said it was like a pancake!”

Paul can feel his boyfriend shaking with laughter next to him, but the girl is so earnest and so cute.

“You put the ‘shrooms in the ship and that’s how the ship connects to the millis and the millis makes it flip and then it moves really fast! That’s what uncle Hugh said! Is it wrong?” And there are the puppy eyes again, and Paul is weak.

“Well.” He puts the glitter vortex aside carefully, because he’ll need both hands for explaining things. “It’s not wrong, but there are a few things that are even cooler.”

The puppy eyes turn big and Leah’s mouth opens into a small o as Paul starts explaining his drive in simple terms at first, then a little more complicated when she keeps asking questions (and man are some of those questions smart, because that’s not a point of view Paul has ever considered), and then they talk about what materials to build a starship out of, and why, and then they talk about what other things in the universe are made out of, and then they’re talking about supernovas when they’re called away for dinner.

Leah demands to sit next to Paul, and in between scarfing down her food and trying to repeat everything Paul told her to everyone else, she also mentions that she’ll become an astrophysicist after school.

 

 

 

 

Hugh is wearing a shit eating grin later when they’re getting ready for bed. Paul bears it for a few minutes until he finally can’t anymore.

“What?!”

“Your hair is glittery.”

Paul throws a glance at himself in the mirror, and surely enough there are a few faint streaks of pink and yellow glitter that show up nicely against his hair.

“I did say it was sticky,” he mutters to himself, unable to stop smiling. 

Hugh laughs and fluffs his hair, making a few flakes of glitter flutter to the ground. “I think you made the very big mistake of making Leah love you to bits. She won’t leave you alone now.”

“She’s cute.”

“That she is.”

**Author's Note:**

> (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧  
> please leave me a comment if you enjoyed this fic! it would honestly make my day!


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